Nation
THE STATES
Bauchi
Bauchi town was agog last Saturday as Mohammed Abubakar, son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Badriyya Muazu, daughter of former Governor of Bauchi State, Ahmed Muazu, were joined in holy matrimony.
The marriage contract was sealed at the palace of the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rulwanu Suleiman, after the payment of N1million and a flashy car as bride price by the groom.
Gov. Sule Lamido of Jigawa represented the groom, while the Governor of Bauchi State, Malam Isa Yuguda, represented the bride.
The Chief Imam of Bauchi Central mosque, Alhaji Bala Baba-inna, who presided over the religious aspect of the ceremony, urged the couple to have the fear of God and live in peace.
The ceremony was attended by prominent personalities, among them, business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, former Head of State Abdusalami Abubakar as well as Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State and Gov. Babangida Aliyu of Niger.
Borno
The Borno Government said on Sunday that it trained 37,000 youths in various trades to fight the current security challenges facing the state.
The Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Youth Empowerment, Hajiya Zainab Gimba, announced in Maiduguri that the training was carried out under the skill acquisition programme of the ministry.
Gimba said the objective was to engage the youths in meaningful ventures and prevent them from joining bad groups.
She said that the state government was also collaborating with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) office to implement a conditional cash transfer to 2,337 poor households in the state.
“We are collaborating with the MDG to begin immediate cash transfer to 2,337 poor households in five local government areas of the state. “The households are located in Kaga, Nganzai, Gubio, Guzamala and Magumeri,” Gimba said.
FCT
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Mohammed Adoke, said he would assign lawyers from the Federal Ministry of Justice to re-investigate cases handled by the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) to ensure transparency.
A statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by the Public Relations Officer of PCC, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwosu, said the efforts would help the commission to fight injustice.
It said the attorney-general would host a stakeholders’ conference with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Crimes Commission in that regard.
According to the statement, the National Human Rights Commission and PCC will also feature in the conference to form the desired synergy for fighting criminality and corruption.
It said such cooperation would help the commission to handle cases where an offence had been committed against the state.
Jigawa
An estimated two million Muslim faithful in Dutse, Jigawa, participated in a special prayer session for peace, unity and prosperity in the country, newsmen reports.
The prayer session, held on Saturday, was part of the five-day activity organised for the 27th Maulaud celebration to commemorate the birth of Sheik Ibrahim Nyass, a famous leader of the Tijjaniya Islamic movement.
Malam Ahmad Inyass, who led the congregation, prayed for peaceful co-existence among the people for sustainable social and economic development.
Inyass admonished Muslims to be upright, honest and dedicate themselves to the worship of Allah in accordance with the teachings of Islam.
Kaduna
Hundreds of refugees displaced by gunmen who attacked three villages in Birnin Gwari Local Government area of Kaduna State, are now taking shelter at Kamfanin Doka Primary School.
The Chairman of the council, Alhaji Idris Alhassan, who visited the displaced persons, pledged to provide relief materials and security to the camp. He said that several of the villagers, including women and children, were injured in the attack.
The chairman gave the names of the affected villages as Goron Dutse, Gwaska and Unguwar Nabango located on the border with Zamfara.
Lagos
The Founder of the O’odua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr Frederick Fasheun, on Sunday said that President Goodluck Jonathan had a constitutional right to run for a second term in office.
Fasheun said that the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly only recently acknowledged the right of Jonathan to seek two terms in Office, as provided for in the Constitution.
Controversy had trailed the third conference of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) held on May 20, at the Eko Hotels in Lagos, as a the leaders had been accused of endorsing Jonathan for the 2015 presidential polls.
Fasheun said that the issue of Jonathan running in 2015 was a matter of the right granted to all Nigerian citizens by the constitution.
Niger
Senator Ibrahim Musa (CPC-Niger) on Sunday said he had sunk 82 bore holes, including two motorised ones, to improve water supply in his constituency.
Musa said that he decided to intervene to end the suffering of the communities by executing the project to complement the efforts of the government.
He said the projects were undertaken with the assistance Sen. Mohammed Maigoro (PDP) and some members of the House of Representatives.
“The road is expected to be completed within three years, which include the expansion of the bridges. This would end the suffering of commuters and open up the area for economic activities, “ he said.
Ogun
Ogun Government has declared June 12 a public holiday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election believed to have been won by late Chief MKO Abiola.
The Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, in a statement issued on Sunday in Abeokuta said the holiday would enable people to further appreciate the watershed that the annulled election represented, particularly as it served as the forebear of the current democracy which the country now enjoyed.
It said that during the anniversary, now known as Democracy Day, the government would host a Democracy Walk and rally in Abeokuta.
Osun
The Osun Government has commenced arrangements to relocate traders from the popular Alekuwodo Road in Osogbo, the state capital.
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere, gave this indication while speaking in Osogbo on Saturday.
Akere said the government had begun to pull down illegal structures around the new Orisunmbare market, to create room for the street traders.
The information commissioner said the Osun Government would move the street traders as soon as all illegal structures around new Orisunmbare market had been pulled down, adding that it was wrong for anybody to have put up a permanent structure on a piece of land owned by government.
Oyo
The former Director-General of NTA, Tony Iredia, said on Saturday said that the Nigeria Police Force would achieve its goals only through effective coordination of resources and communication.
Iredia said at the Police South-West Zone Intelligence Sensitisation and Community Partnership workshop held in Ibadan, that effective communication would go a long way in improving the police by helping the force to maintain a cordial relationship with the public.
He also implored members of the force to always conduct themselves appropriately in public as people would address them as they were perceived.
Iredia criticised acts of intolerance by some members of the police force against the media, adding that it constitutes a hinderance to their public relations efforts.
Sokoto
Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State has directed the state Ministry of Environment to conduct a special sanitation within Sokoto and its environs.
The Commissioner for Environment , Dr Jabbi Kilgori, said in Sokoto on Sunday that it was sequel to presence of several heaps of refuse in the town.
According to Kilgori, the special sanitation is to make the town cleaner, healthy and more conducive for living.
He said public enlightenment had been intensified to sensitise the residents on the need to properly dispose refuse .The commissioner also said that the state government was making arrangements to provide more incinerators.
Kilgori urged residents of the town to support and cooperate with the government to ensure the success of the exercise.
Taraba
Taraba Justice Forum, a political pressure group, has asked Taraba Acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, to make the medical report of Gov. Danbaba Suntai public.
In a statement, signed by its General Secretary, Mr Ambulus John, and issued in Abuja on Saturday, the group said that producing the medical report had become necessary in order to clear the air on conflicting reports about the true state of Suntai’s health.
“The people deserve to know the true state of the Gov. Suntai’ s health because in the past eight months the government has been spending public fund to foot his medical expenses abroad,’’ the statement said.
The group said that Taraba was facing the most critical challenge in its history and urged the acting governor to do the right thing.
“He must strike a balance between loyalty to his boss and the Taraba people.
“It is time for Umar to demand for and make public the governor’s medical records,’’ it said.
The Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government Council of Katsina State, Maharazu Dayi, has been impeached.
Maharazu Dayi was impeached yesterday by 11 out of 12 councillors, barely two days before the local government elections in the State.
The councillors reportedly took action following allegations of misconduct and poor governance against the chairman after a dispute over the distribution of the council’s Paris Club funds.
The development has sent shock waves across the local government area, especially as the impeached chairman is among those who failed to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the forthcoming election.
The Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association, Mile 1, Port Harcourt, has urged the state government to utilise the available spaces within the area to build phase 3 of the Rumuwoji Market in order to solve the ever increasing needs of traders.
The association, which said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, also described as a welcomed development the decision by the state Governor to open the phase 2 of the market for business.
According to the association, “We consider it as an answer to the various cries of the people, because he is a man on a mission who is out to place the interest of Rivers people first. It is a dream come true for the first time for the market to be dully allocated and open for business”
Chairman of the association, Hon Godspower Wobo, who briefed the press shortly after a meeting of the association in Port Harcourt, also urged the public to disregard the activities of some persons whose stock in trade is to cause disaffection in the market.
He said the attention of the association was drawn to the activities of some strange fellows who went about misforming the people about situation in the market, stressing that apart from his association, no other group exists in the market except subdiary unions.
Wobo also tasked the reallocation committee to tread with caution so as to avoid being deceived by any group.
According to him, time has come for the state government to engage in robust discussion with aggrieved shop owners who went to court and those who paid monies to the state coffers and issued with allocation certificates for the overall interest of peace.
He also advised the public to deal directly with his association, stressing that the meeting was to review activities for the last year as well as unveil their new Constitution.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the association, Deacon Kenneth Eze urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to open the phase 2 of the market, as it is long overdue.
Eze who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association also urged the public to do business with only the Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association as it is the only union recognised by the traders.
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has debunked reports linking him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Reacting to the report on his X handle yesterday, following a recent interview with Arise TV, the AfDB boss said his quotes were misrepresented and misinterpreted in several Nigerian media reports.
However, the AfDB president denied the media reports, stating that he never said that he wanted to contest for President.
“A segment of my recent interview on @Arise TV has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, “I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.